Critical RF Test Measurements, MER, and EVM Provide Early Indication of Signal Degradation before Any Picture Impairment is Visible to the End Customer without Additional Costly RF Test Equipment (MER up to 37 dB typical)

MTM400 with IP or RF Interface can Switch between IP or RF Monitoring and Transport Stream Monitoring within the One Probe

DPI (SCTE-35) Local Content Insertion Monitoring

DigiCipher® II (DCII) Protocol Support

User-defined Template Monitoring Option to Ensure Right Content at the Right Place at the Right Time while Content Ratings Checking Ensures Only Appropriate Content Broadcast

Scalable, Upgradeable Monitoring Capability Provides Extended Confidence Monitoring, where You Buy the Capability You Need when You Need It

In-field Upgrades Minimizes Upgrade Time

Simple User Interface Minimizes Staff Familiarization Time

Applications

Contribution and Primary Distribution:

Terrestrial Distribution

Cable Head-end Monitoring

DTH or Network Operator Satellite Uplink Monitoring

IPTV

Edge Network Monitoring:

ASI to RF

IP to RF (Requires two MTM400 units)

IP to ASI

*1 Sync Byte, Sync Error, and Continuity Count.

Technical Overview

Increasingly, monitoring of Gigabit Ethernet and RF transmission is becoming essential for efficient MPEG network operations and proactive fault prevention. The MTM400 is the industry-leading solution for 24×7 MPEG network monitoring, and with both RF and IP interfaces is ideally positioned for monitoring trunk IP feeds and RF drops to the end customer. The Gigabit Ethernet Interface, which was announced to the market in August 2006, has successfully provided full TR 101 290 Priority 1, 2, and 3 monitoring on a single session within an IP stream.

The new polling capability for the MTM400 probe, combined with RF and IP interfaces allows up to 200 RF channels or IP sessions (discovering up to 500 IP sessions) to be monitored in a repeating cyclic measurement process. Control and configuration of the polling is undertaken using flexible XML scripting. This polling ability, combined with the ability to construct and manage multicast groups using IGMP, makes a single MTM400 probe a broader tool, monitoring large numbers of network points in a time-sampled measurement mode.

Enhancements included in the new firmware also provide incremental functional performance within the core product, as well as flexibility offered by the polling capability.

The MTM400 GE with Option 7 provides:

Broad but shallow IP and narrow and deep MPEG monitoring in a single solution

Features and Benefits

The MTM400 uses a single transport stream processor platform packaged in a 1 RU rackmount chassis to provide monitoring of a transport stream at data rates up to 155 Mb/s*2. The platform is used to provide an extended confidence monitoring product that, with the addition of software options, provides diagnostic monitoring capabilities.

The extended confidence monitor provides the key MPEG tests; this basic level of functionality and low cost enables widespread deployment throughout a transmission network, facilitating rapid fault isolation. The diagnostic monitoring options provide more in-depth analysis of the MPEG transport stream including recording capability, PSI/SI/PSIP/ARIB analysis, and unique user-defined template tests to ensure right content, right place, right time. Deployed at key network nodes, the MTM400 equipped as a diagnostic monitor enables the cause of faults to be pinpointed and solved.

Discovery of all sessions/flows on the link with RTP/UDP and TS present indicators

Session bit rate monitoring

Simultaneous IP packet error and TS error*1 status of all sessions

*1 Sync Byte, Sync Error, and Continuity Count.

*2 Maximum transport stream bit rate is dependent on transport stream content and depth of analysis being performed. Depth of stream analysis is handled gracefully if SI/PSIP max content is exceeded to ensure critical measurements continue to be performed.

Flexible and Upgradeable

The MTM400 provides a flexible solution with an upgrade path, including diagnostic monitoring features that enable customers to build a cost-effective monitoring system to suit their individual requirements. Diagnostic capability can be added to the key monitoring points where transport streams are manipulated while extended confidence monitoring probes can be installed throughout the network:

Triggered recording enables problems to be captured and analyzed in greater depth using offline analysis tools such as the Tektronix MPEG Test System Standalone Software*3

PSI/SI/PSIP/ARIB SI analysis and repetition rate graphing allows broadcasters to determine that the system information is present and correct in the transport stream

Template testing checks a number of key parameters to ensure that the transport stream has been constructed as the broadcaster intended. These parameters include the Transport Stream ID and Network ID, the number of programs in the multiplex, that each program has all of its components (Video, Audio, Data, Teletext, Subtitles) and Conditional Access (CA) status

In-depth PCR analysis with graphical results views enable timing and Jitter measurements to be made to ensure correct operation of the network

Service logging enables verification of service-level agreements to ensure that contractual obligations are met

Offline analysis software applications for in-depth deferred time analysis of streams captured using the MTM400 gives Tektronix the most powerful MPEG monitoring diagnostics available in the world today*3

In addition, key enhancements provided by the v.2.5.x firmware release and new Option 7 are as follows:

Channel Polling: Allows up to 200 channels to be polled sequentially from either the IP or the RF interface (requires Option 7 enabled)

*3 MTS400 Series MPEG Test System offline software tools are available for use with the MTM400. These are standalone software applications intended to run on the customer's control PC. Separate data sheet is available.

Applications

Contribution and Primary Distribution

Digital video contribution and distribution networks carry compressed video from many origination points to multiple delivery points over limited bandwidth links. Delivery of the right content at the right place at the right time is key to efficient network operation and customer satisfaction. Failure to deliver video services at the appropriate Quality of Service (QoS) leads to potential loss of revenue if video content is not delivered per the service-level agreement.

High bit rate capability, up to 155 Mb/s*2, for monitoring transport streams carried over GbE/ATM/OC3/SDH

Bit rate testing and logging enables bandwidth usage to be monitored and service-level agreements to be verified

*2 Maximum transport stream bit rate is dependent on transport stream content and depth of analysis being performed. Depth of stream analysis is handled gracefully if SI/PSIP max content is exceeded to ensure critical measurements continue to be performed.

MPEG over IP Distribution

Internet Protocol distribution of MPEG-2, MPEG-4/AVC (H.264), and VC1 encoded material is increasing dramatically due to the low cost, and ease of routing of packet-based transmission networks. While IP distribution has some clear advantages it also brings its own challenges, particularly in terms of ensuring consistent quality of service. MTM400 with its IP interface option provides MSOs, broadcasters, and network operators with the toolset required to monitor and diagnose complex transmission problems seamlessly across an IP to MPEG network.

IPTV

MTM400 Traffic Screen

IPTV presents new monitoring challenges for video test. MTM400 offers broad IP monitoring capability to show multisession IP traffic display with IP packet and Transport Stream errors for all sessions on the link backed up with deep MPEG measurement and recording capability. Strong linkage between IP and MPEG layer errors in the MTM400 integrated error log show the relationship between IP and TS errors. Additional filtered log views are available for faster tracking of IP and Transport Stream problems.

Edge Device Monitoring

Edge device monitoring is becoming key in modern hybrid networks. MTM400 addresses this need with ASI to IP or RF measurement interfaces:

Bit rate testing on a per PID, program, or user-defined groups of PIDs basis

MTM400 PCR inaccuracy analysis

In-depth timing analysis with graphical results views of:

PCR_OJ (overall Jitter)

PCR_AC (accuracy)

PCR_FO (frequency offset)

PCR_DR (drift rate)

PTS Arrival Interval

Service logging of user-selected PIDs to record packet rates at user-definable intervals

Channel Polling: Allows up to 200 channels to be polled sequentially from either the IP or the RF interface

Remote User Interface

The summary status screen provides a quick overview of the health and contents of the stream

The device status summary displays hardware status of the MTM400 including fan status and temperature, etc

The Remote User Interface (RUI) software is a Java applet downloaded from the MTM400. It is accessed using a Web browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer with Microsoft Virtual Machine installed) on any networked personal computer.

The interface initially displays a main status view with menu buttons to access either stream status summary or device status summary. The stream status summary provides an overview of the health and contents of the stream with the ability to access all available tests and measurements licensed for the unit. Summaries can be focused on program content, SI content, or on all PIDs.